This invention relates, generally, to the field of musical instrument electronics, and more particularly to an electronic visual music conducting device which provides a visual simulation of the movement a conductor's baton.
In the field of music and musical instruments, a revolution has taken place in recent years as microprocessors and computers have become fully integrated into all stages of composition, scoring, performance and instrument design. While this merger of computers, electronics and musical instruments continues today in a well defined environment, early efforts were considerably more experimental, lacking in standardization.
Prior to the development of the now well known Musical Instrument Digital Interface (MIDI) standard, computers of all types, from microcomputers to large mainframe computers, were used by students of electronics and music in many different ways. Some of the earliest efforts to combine computers and music resulted in the development of new electronic instruments, later known as synthesizers, which were designed to create any sound, natural or man-made, which could be imagined. Other efforts focused on the use of computers to compose music, incorporating basic theories of artificial intelligence and conventional music theory to create new music and musical forms. Still other pioneers set out to use computers to reduce the tedium associated with traditional transcription and scoring by having the results of music played on a piano-like keyboard printed directly as sheet music.
Unfortunately, while this early innovation continued apace, the lack of any electronic musical instrument standards kept communications between different instruments, or between instruments and stand-alone computers, to a minimum. Each manufacturer developed a different architecture and interface for their electronic musical product, with the result that instruments from different manufacturers often couldn't communicate with each other. In addition, the manner in which each of these early electronic musical instruments interfaced directly with computers was quite different, making it almost impossible for the data stored on a computer from one instrument to be transmitted or used, and still make any sense, to another instrument.
Therefore, as electronics became less expensive and more powerful, manufacturers who had begun to develop instruments which had true studio and performance value, as well as others involved in the music industry, came to an understanding that a unified system for establishing communications and information interchange between electronic musical instruments, and other studio equipment, was needed. The result of this need was the adoption and promulgation of the Musical Instrument Digital Interface (MIDI) standard by the International MIDI Association. This standard, published in 1983, defines a hardware and data format to enable synthesizers, sequencers, home computers, drum machines, etc., to be interconnected through a standard serial interface.
As a result of the wide spread acceptance of the MIDI standard, musical instruments (keyboard, wind and percussion) as well as accessories (sequencers, editors and librarians) of all types have been developed which are capable of connecting to a MIDI network and sharing data. These new MIDI instruments and devices have enabled composers and performers to work more efficiently and creatively in traditional ways, and have also provided a fertile ground for the development of new techniques for the composition, production and performance of music. Of particular importance has been the greatly expanded use of multi-track digital sequencers.
Generally speaking, a sequencer is a multi-track digital event recorder/player. It may be a stand alone unit, or it may be a specialized software program designed to run on a general purpose computer. In practice a musician uses a sequencer to lay down a series of "virtual tracks", one track at a time. Each track contains a single part, and by using the sequencer a single musician or composer can build and refine musical structures in a manner similar to the way that an author uses a word processor to write lengthy multi-part documents. In addition, after recording, the user can then use the sequencer to play back multiple parts, simultaneously, in real time. This real time simultaneous playback capability is especially important in the studio and performance environment, where the sequenced instruments may be used to accompany live musicians.
When live musicians play along with pre-recorded or sequenced music, it is common for each musician to employ the use of a headphone to listen to a "click track". This is simply a metronomic click, derived from the MIDI data generated by the sequencer, which typically occurs at the rate of one click per musical beat. While such an arrangement is acceptable when the music to be performed has a steady tempo, many problems occur when the beat is more "free style", and not at regularly spaced intervals. Musical ritardando's and accelerando's are used to speed up or slow down the tempo of music during performance, while rubato's, fermata's and the like lengthen or shorten the duration of individual musical notes. These temporal deviations are critical to the expressive element involved in the performance of music, and yet are often missed when performers follow a simple click track, since changes in rhythm may often take place between beats, and thus, between clicks. In addition, watching performers who are listening to click tracks through headphones spoils the visual appeal of seeing musicians perform live. The alternative, unfortunately, is no more attractive since the use of click tracks without headphones, especially during a live performance before an audience, is completely unacceptable since the click track can often be heard by the audience.
In an effort to overcome the above noted problems, the use of a human conductor has been employed, with the conductor being the only person to listen to click tracks through a headphone, while conducting musicians and performers in a more traditional way. Following a conductor is much easier for musicians and singers since the conductor's baton does not disappear between beats. In addition, through the movement of the conductor's baton, the timing of each beat may be anticipated by visually observing the baton's acceleration and deceleration. Finally, a conductor's baton may also be used to indicate not only tempo, but musical dynamics, by varying the distance of movement from one beat to the next.
Unfortunately, the conductor's headphone click track is also typically limited to the above noted one click per beat, with the result being that while musicians are able to follow the fluid movements of a human conductor, the conductor is limited to following discrete clicks, and thereby encounters all of the aforenoted limitations of click tracks.
Accordingly, it has been determined that the need exists for an improved electronic visual music conducting device which permits live musicians to follow complex musical tempo changes by visually observing a display which, under the control of a MIDI data stream, may simulate the complete range of movements of a conductor's baton.